Robb's Curriculum Vitae

Robert Neil Kvasnak Curriculum Vitae
E-mail: rkvasnak@fau.edu / robbkvasnak@hotmail.com


Education is my passion, both as a teacher and as a student, for a good teacher is always a student. From every class I have taught, I have learned. I owe this knowledge to every forthcoming class of mine.

EDUCATION
Present: Post-graduate (doctoral level) studies in education/ second language acquisition at FAU/College of Education.
2004: M.Ed. Education (Curriculum and Instruction) with emphasis on Second Language Acquisition;
2004: Florida Teaching Certificate in German, French and Spanish
1994: Nova Southeastern University, School of Business and Entrepreneurship, Miami FL: Fundamentals of Financial Planning
1994: American Institute of Banking, University of Miami, Miami FL: International Banking (Grade: 94% = A)
1994: Florida International University, Miami FL: International letters of Credit (non-credit course)
1990: Ankara University, Tömer Institute in Izmir, Turkey: Diploma in Turkish (Grade: 99%)
1970-1975: Johann-Wolfgang von Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany: Chinese Philology, Social Linguistics, Scandinavian Studies
1965-1968: University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh PA: B.A. in Cultural Anthropology with minor in German

AREAS OF RESEARCH
Second Language Acquisition, Educating ESL and other minority students, Teacher education, Inclusive curriculum for a classroom of diversity, African American studies

TEACHING EXPERIENCE, WORK EXPERIENCE

4/05 to present: teaching TESOL for teachers, College of Education at FAU
4/05 to present: Research Assistant to Dr. Hani Zainuddin and Dr. Angela Rhone in the College of Education at FAU

9/05 to 12/05: teaching ESOL at Broward Community College
4/05 to 8/05: teaching ESOL at Nova Southeast University

6/03 to 4/05: Wilton Manors Elementary. I taught Spanish and ESOL in kindergarten through 5th grade.

8/02 to 6/03: Western High School, 9th Grade Annex, Davie FL. (954-370-1600) French and Spanish in 9th grade

03/02 to 08/02 Transition to Teaching, FAU and Broward School Board New Educators Program under the auspices of Marge Sasse and Dr. Bob Parks [954-236-1623], including a 2-month internship at Horizon Elementary, 4th grade Apr – June 2002

1/00 to 1/02 Director of Executive Training Department, C.E.S. Embassy, 301 Las Olas Blvd., Ft. Lauderdale FL [954-522-8810]: Headed department teaching foreign executives English as a second language and concepts of American business and banking and also coordinator of the ‘English in the Working World’ program, which places students in internships.

11/97 to 1/00 Language Consultant at academia linguistica, Inc., 572 NE 34th Street, Oakland Park FL 33334 [954-821-6317]: Language Consultant, translator, teacher [English, Spanish, German, French, Turkish, etc.], interpreter, writer.

5/97 to 10/97 Foreign Exchange Officer, Pfandkredit-Geldwechsel-Anstalt, Joachimstalerstr. 7-9, D-10623 Berlin, Germany: Supervised setting up on-line system of currency calculations, including triangularization problems for the European Community.

4/93 to 4/97 Personal Banker, Citibank, 160 Lincoln Rd., Miami Beach FL 33139 [1-800-274-6660], Opened and serviced Money Management Accounts for domestic and foreign customers, pro-actively maintaining customer contact.

4/91 to 4/93 Language Consultant, Professional Translating Services, Inc., 44 W. Flagler St. (Suite 540), Miami FL 33130, Taught ESOL and did translating, interpreting, voice-overs

Awards
Graduate Student of the Year 2006, Florida Atlantic University, College of Education

Volunteer Work
I joined the voluntary literacy coalition ‘Read Dade’, when I lived in Miami and became Laubach certified, i.e. officially recognized as a literacy teacher.
Organized and headed free workshop on language acquisition at Border’s Books in Ft. Lauderdale.
Kids in Distress, a home for abused children, summer 2004
Led workshop on ‘Bilingual Education in America’ at Broward Public Schools’ conference, Kaleidoscope of Languages, March 2003

Publications
Wrote and published book entitled: “Foreign Languages Made Easy” - a guide to independent language learning. [available on amazon.com]
PowerPoint Presentation on narrative strategies of second-language students at http://student.fau.edu/rkvasnak/web/Narrative%20Strategies.ppt

Professional Training
Florida State permanent teaching certificate in Spanish, German, French
Professional translator, linguist, and expert in language teaching, specialized in English, German, French and Spanish for non-native speakers, also possessing excellent knowledge of Norwegian, Turkish, Danish, Italian, Portuguese, and Esperanto. Working knowledge of several other languages, including Dutch, Swedish, and Chinese [Mandarin].


References:
Dr. Angela Rhone, Florida Atlantic University, College of Education. Telephone number: 954-236-1035
Dr. Penelope Fritzer, Florida Atlantic University, College of Education, Telephone number: 561-297-3588